By Our Staff Reporter
RISHIKESH, 9 Mar: After a vibrant first day of International Yoga festival at Parmarth Niketan Ashram, Rishikesh, which – coinciding with Holi — saw approximately 1500 participants from nearly 90 countries across the globe dive into the teaching, touch and transformation of yoga as well as an ecstatic celebration of colors, flowers and special late evening drumming concert by world-renowned percussionist A Sivamani with his wife, singer Runa Rizvi, Day 2 of the International Yoga Festival concluded with a special Sufi Music performance by singer Kailash Kher.
Earlier, participants gathered early morning at Brahma Muhurta for the Morning Kundalini Sadhana class with Gurushabd Singh Khalsa of USA, followed by classes in Dark Goddess Flow by Rohini Manohar, founder of Chennai Yoga Studio, Chikitsa Vinayasa Therapeutic Flow Yoga by Dr Eden Goldman of Loyola Marymount University, USA, Mastery of Pranayama with Mohan Bhandari, co-founder and director of Yogic Yoga (China) and Sensei Sandeep Desai’s hugely-popular Chen Style T’ai Chi at the Yoga Ghat as well as Naad Yoga with Ganga Nandini, Senior Yogacharya of Parmarth Niketan.
Following breakfast, participants experienced a wide variety of intensive asana classes including Heart Lotus by Kia Miller originally from England and now based in Los Angeles, On the Yoga Ghat, while the sun began to shine on the waters of Mother Ganga, Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa based in the US and in Mexico took participants through a class on “The Beaming Power of Thunder Love!” which was a fusion of power, grace, energy and celebration. Anand Mehrotra taught a class on “Enlivening Shakti for Full Value Living” taught participants how meditation can help get in touch with the Universal Life Force. Power Vinayasa-I Find Power In My Roots: Chakra 1 & 7 Balancing by Katie B Happy from San Diego, a “Lila Yoga Vinayasa: Uniting with Calm Clarity” by Erica Kaufman from Pennsylvania, USA, Founder of the Sattva Yoga Retreat.
The Spiritual Plenary Series today was a special satsang by Swami Chidanand Saraswati and Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati. Beginning with the chanting of devotional stuti and song to Mother Ganga, sacred vedic mantras and meditation led by the Sadhvi, they answered questions by the participants on topics ranging from life to health to yoga.
The Sadhvi led a guided meditation inspiring people to let go and to go deep within, encouraging them to allow the sacredness of the Himalayas and Maa Ganga within themselves such that when they go back they are changed and different.
During the Q/A, a participant asked, “Is there a correct posture for meditation?” The Swami replied, “Sthira Sukham Asanam. The posture that allows you to be stable and comfortable is the right posture for the state of meditation to happen. The best posture is the presence, awareness and connection with the divine.”
Lunch was followed by a series of talks and discourses on inclusive, integrative health and wellness along with mesmerising folk dances. During a session on “Escape from Modern Illnesses: Solutions from Ayurveda & Yoga”, Dr Raghavan Ramankutty, world-renowned and eminent Ayurvedacharya, founder of Dathathreya Ayurveda, and Sharada Raghavan, talked about how Ayurveda is a healing system that combines physical, psychological, and spiritual health.
Acharya Ashish Gilhotra, founder of Pressure Yoga, a seasoned Naturopathic Acharya, highlighted how natural therapies can help overcome Fat Loss and Back Pain. Traditional folk dances are a beautiful expression of India’s historic art and culture. Nrityavali’s demonstration of “Marwadi Nritya”, showcased the culture of Rajasthani clothing and dance forms. Dr Nishi Bhatt, one of the leading healers in the emerging field of holistic and neurological treatments dived deep into the subject of NAADIYOGA as an alternative healing method by enhancing the body’s capabilities which does not rely on medicine for treatment. Za Rah Kumara, a Zero-Point Healer and Sacred Music artist, along with Shanti Manpreet of Germany, a Sacred sound and Healing artist conducted a session titled “Crystal Sounding Heart” to help connect people with the divine through sound at the Sacred Sound Stage. Dr Smita Pankaj Naram, Co-Founder of Ayushakti, which has helped more than 1.5 million people across the world and transformed their lives, shared how to unlock 3 Secrets to Vibrant Health and Blissful Happiness.
In the afternoon asana sessions, HS Arun, internationally renowned Senior Iyengar Yoga teacher from Bangalore, taught numerous twists enabling one to ‘Live at Present’ in his session called “Untwist the Twist”. Swami Svatmananda returned with a session on Vedanta: The Ultimate Pursuit of Man”. He explained how Vedanta, the ancient Hindu Sadhana, is the pursuit of knowledge into the Brahman and the Ātman. Participants had the unique opportunity to understand how one can awaken their consciousness through practice in a session by Jai Hari Singh, Chairman and CEO of the Yogasomostodos Foundation. The session on “Heart Chakra Balancing” was conducted by the world-renowned Yogrishi Vishvketu, founder of Anand Prakash Yoga Ashram. The final session of the afternoon called “Voicing the Sounds of Your Chakra ” was conducted in the Sacred Sound Stage by Gumi and Hiroko of Japan.
At sunset, participants headed to Parmarth Niketan’s Ganga Aarti Ghat to attend the sacred Ganga Havan. In the evening, the Sacred Ganga Aarti was followed by a Special Performance of Uttarakhand Rangostav, organised in partnership with the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. It was a demonstration of the traditional, artistic and cultural values of Uttarakhand folk.
A Kīrtan Family Hour with Za Rah Kumara and Shanti Manpreet allowed participants to chant their hearts open with sacred music practitioners.
